Conference proceeding
Teaching Renewable Energy System Design and Analysis with HOMER
ASEE annual conference & exposition, pp.1-13
2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition (Indianapolis, IN, USA, 15 Jun 2014 - 18 Jun 2014)
15 Jun 2014
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Teaching Renewable Energy System Design and Analysis with HOMER Equipping engineering students with the skills and knowledge required to be successful global engineers in the 21st century is one of the primary objectives of undergraduate educators.Enabling students to practice self-directed learning, to find solutions to design problems that are sustainable to the application requirements, to have appropriate skills and knowledge, as well as the familiarity of the modern software packages, tools and equipment used in today industries are major goals of all engineering or engineering technology programs. This paper is about how the uses of HOMER computer software's are such valuable tools for undergraduate engineering education, specifically in the design, modeling and analysis of renewable energy systems.However, today there are quite a few programs in the area of renewable energy design, analysis and modeling. Some of them are more complexes, others user-friendlies, while others too simple.In our approach, the software package HOMER (Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable) has been considered to have all the features and tools necessarily to make a good option, while being not too complicated and complex for undergraduate engineering or engineering technology students with limited or not previous knowledge in the areas of renewable energy systems. HOMER optimization software package can be used for design,model and analysis to determine the optimal architecture, structure, size and control strategy of the hybrid power system. It can perform comparative economic and modeling analysis on distributed generation power system in order to get the best solution in terms of cost,performances, size and structure. As part of this project, several educational modules we redeveloped, planned or in process to be to developed. However, the first module is about how to use, interact and understand with HOMER package. Another module focuses on how to design a photovoltaic system for residential and standalone applications to lower energy cost. A module underway to be developed is one that can be considered as a guide on how to use renewable energy to secure a sustainable grid. The paper also presents the technical skills gained by the students using the software HOMER package. Finally, undergraduate and graduate students had the exposure to non-technical engineering skills, like economic feasibility, logistic and decision on energy security. We hope the materials presented herein can be used as the starting point for other instructors considering offering a similar course on renewable energy and the use of HOMER as teaching help and design and analysis tool.
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Details
- Title
- Teaching Renewable Energy System Design and Analysis with HOMER
- Creators
- Radian Belu - Drexel UniversityRichard Chiou - Drexel UniversityKetki Ghaisas - Drexel UniversityTzu-Liang Bill Tseng - The University of Texas at El Paso
- Publication Details
- ASEE annual conference & exposition, pp.1-13
- Conference
- 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition (Indianapolis, IN, USA, 15 Jun 2014 - 18 Jun 2014)
- Publisher
- ASEE Conferences
- Number of pages
- 13
- Resource Type
- Conference proceeding
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Engineering Leadership and Society/Engineering Technology
- Identifiers
- 991019170479704721
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InCites Highlights
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Education & Educational Research
- Education, Scientific Disciplines
- Engineering, Multidisciplinary